The Fruit of the Spirit (4/9) – Longsuffering

Descipleship

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

– Galatians 5:22-23

23and while being abusively insulted, He did not insult in return; while suffering, He did not threaten, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;

– 1 Peter 2:23

18A hot-tempered person stirs up strife,

But the slow to anger calms a dispute.

– Proverbs 15:18

11A person’s discretion makes him slow to anger,

And it is his glory to overlook an offense.

– Proverbs 19:11
(NASB® © 2020)

 

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The Lord Jesus once said that we are destined to bear fruit. Our goal in life should, therefore, be to bear lasting fruit that is so valuable to God.

Ultimately, fruit means reflecting the characteristics of the Lord Jesus. When He is seen in us, God is glorified.

In this series, we want to reflect on the individual fruits that the Holy Spirit wants to work in our lives. And since our Lord is always the perfect role model (cf. Mt 11:29; Jn 13:15; 1 Pet 2:21), we will look directly at incidents from His life where these characteristics become visible.

 

“But the fruit of the Spirit is … longsuffering …”

The Greek term for longsuffering literally means “long passion,” which means that it would take a long time to give free rein to one’s emotions. Longsuffering is, therefore, characterized by patiently enduring something. This can refer both to perseverance in difficult circumstances and to forbearance when facing attacks from others.

Some verses in Proverbs show the whole spectrum of meaning of this characteristic: in Proverbs 15:18, a longsuffering person is contrasted with an angry person; Proverbs 19:11 equates longsuffering with “overlooking” wrongdoing; Proverbs 25:15 with a mild response. A longsuffering person can accept an insult or unjust insinuation without firing back (2 Sam 16:11, 12). He does not show short-sightedness.

Examples of longsuffering from the life of the Lord that we can learn from:

  • The Lord showed infinite patience with Judas Iscariot, who followed Him as a hypocrite for three years.
  • The Lord foretold His suffering to the disciples several times, although they never understood it (e.g., Mk 9:31, 32).
  • The Lord asked the disciples on the road to Emmaus questions and listened patiently for a long time, even though their answers were not correct (Lk 24:17-25).
  • The Lord Jesus willingly accepted every slap in the face without complaining (cf. Mt 5:39).
  • The Lord Jesus did not avenge Himself (Rom 12:19) but “committed Himself to Him who judges righteously” (1 Pet 2:23).
  • The Lord Jesus is described as the one who was “reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not” (1 Peter 2:23).

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